Lone Wolf
by Amber Evans Potter
Summary: Jacob Black has escaped to Alaska, finding peace in his total isolation. When a hiker gets lost in a blizzard, it is up to Jacob to rescue him. As if matters couldn't get any worse, the hiker looks exactly like a certain Cullen. Under revision.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight characters, I am merely borrowing them.

Author's Note: I have been a fan of Twilight for some time now but I have to admit – Jacob Black is my favorite character. Thus he takes center stage in this short story. The first chapter is short but there will be a few more - the story, as mentioned before, is short. I hope you enjoy!

Prologue: An End

The snow was hard-packed and mostly ice. This was not a problem for Jacob as he dug his back legs deeply into the ground with every leap forward, running harder and faster. Whenever he began to slide back or skid, he adjusted his weight for the next step forward. The snow beating against his face, whipping past him in torrents as the blizzard around him intensified only made him easier to camoflauge. Part of him noted that his muscles were burning with fatigue but another, angrier part only pushed harder. The pain felt good, made him feel more alive. He knew he could keep running forever if he needed to.

'Someone will think I'm a wind spirit,' Jacob thought to himself. That was another thing – the freedom of being alone sent a thrill through him. There were no brothers or sister to listen to his thoughts, no one whining about the thoughts he couldn't control, no damnable blood-suckers picking apart his every thought. He was finally and truly alone with his own thoughts, as he had once been seemingly forever ago.

He skidded to a stop, panting hard as he lowered his massive shaggy head. The frozen lake spread out before him looked stable enough to hold his weight but some old part of him, the part that used to be scared of the ice, had stopped him. He looked around, shaking his fur to dislodge some of the melting ice. His breath came out in wisps of white clouds, his eyes taking in the beauty around him.

He was surrounded by enormous pine trees blanketed in white powder and the icy lake, which he had thought was only white before, now showed blue and even purple streaks here and there where the snow hadn't quite covered everything. Jacob relaxed, huffing softly as he listened to the trees swaying gently and a distant owl hoot once before presumably shuffling back into his home. A pang of homesickness went through Jacob but he shook it off, enjoying the soft pressure of snow against his back. He flicked his ears a few times and then padded along the edge of the lake.

He looked at the trees as he passed, smelling the crisp air every once in a while. The quiet helped to slow his racing heart. This was good. He had been in so much pain before, running almost blindly away from everything. It had been a long trip, despite his speed and tireless trek, but it was all worth it when he could see what he saw now. The snow was so soft, so comforting. He felt homesick when he heard anything living, such as when the owl hooted, but the blizzard had picked up by now and the only sound was his panting breath.

Jacob eventually found a sort of den under a particularly dense set of trees. Some of the huge pines had fallen, creating a surprisingly comfortable space like a cave with a dense canopy above it to block out the worst of the snow and wind. Jacob carefully squeezed into the small space, curling his massive body into a ball to conserve his heat. Now that he wasn't running, he could feel the cold here and there, surprising and chilling him.

When he finally snuggled his head firmly against his hind leg to keep his nose warm, all of his muscles relaxed all at once. He fell asleep soon after, the sound of the swaying of the trees rocking him to sleep.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight characters, I am merely borrowing them.

Author's Note: To let all the fans of Vocare Prabia, my Harry Potter fic, know – I have added a new story entitled "Vocare Prabia Short Stories" as a collection of stories revolving around the Vocare Prabia storyline. Anyone interested should check it out under my profile.

Title: Lone Wolf

Jacob yelped and thrashed out from his den. He looked around wildly, confused by his surroundings. Everything was white… everything was deathly silent… everything was… was… oh. The events of the past few days rushed back to him and he shivered, remembering where he was. Alaska. He was in Alaska. He wasn't in La Push anymore. His father was not in the next room, listening for any sounds of distress or danger. He was alone, he remembered now. He was alone and at peace.

Jacob took a deep, shuddering breath as the adrenaline slowly went out of him. He was tired again, having thought for a moment he was right back where he'd started. He looked around, shaking the snow from his thick coat. He padded back to his sleeping place and inspected it for damage, nudging some of the scattered branches and wood. Aside from a few scratch marks here and there, the shelter had been a sturdy one and Jacob decided he would stay in this place for a little longer. Lifting his massive shaggy head towards the sky, he smelled the next patch of blizzard approaching. It would be good to have a shelter.

With a decidedly cheerful disposition, Jacob pranced away from his den and towards the frozen lake not too far away. He skidded onto the ice before he realized where the edge was. No longer fearful that it might shatter under him, Jacob purposefully slid along the glassy material, enjoying the surprisingly gentle breeze against his face. He shook himself and trotted off deeper into the forest, looking for some food. Perhaps he'd find something good to eat that wasn't berries and twigs.

Before he'd been walking for long, Jacob heard something that made him freeze in his tracks. Twitching his ears, Jacob remained motionless as he listened intently. There! – he heard it again.

Jacob barreled across the short distance between the buried path and the soft groaning he'd heard. Forgetting for a moment what he looked like or where he was, Jacob stuck his nose firmly into an enclosed area surrounded by white trees, an area similar to the one Jacob had spent the night in, and gave a great huff. He nudged carefully and managed to gently push a body backwards so that it lay on its back.

With a sneeze, Jacob shook himself and peered down at what he'd found. He wrinkled his nose when he realized it was not one but two bodies. One of the bodies, larger resembling a pink marshmallow, was a woman. Her blonde hair stuck out from under a pink helmet and there was still a smear of red lipstick across her face, as if she'd only just appealed it. She wasn't breathing and, much as Jacob strained for the sound, had no pulse. She didn't even give off any heat. Jacob surmised that she was dead and, with a mental shake, turned to the other body.

The other body was that of a man in a blue outfit with padding on the legs and arms similar to that of the woman. He was breathing very slowly and his eyelids twitched when Jacob nudged his head gently. With great care, Jacob managed to roll off the man's goggles to get a better look at his face. It was completely white and cold, the nose was probably frostbitten along with the chin, and the man's lips were chattering uncontrollably. Jacob thought the man would be dead in moments.

Looking around, Jacob could not hear a single sound except for the man's breathing and chattering lips. Even his heartbeat was receding very slowly, becoming fainter. Jacob's heart went out to the man but he knew very well what could happen if he became attached. He was in his werewolf form – he resembled an enormous bear with a wolf's head and he was easily stronger than anything in this wilderness. IF the man survived (and that was one of those not-really-possible ifs), Jacob could easily be in jeopardy. It was better to leave things alone, the man would probably die no matter what he did.

Jacob looked down at the man, his mind going blank. He was waiting for the man to die. A hungry, crazy voice in the back of his mind insisted that the man's girlfriend looked tasty. Perhaps, that little voice needled, it would be good for the man to die too. After all, he had to eat, didn't he?


	3. Quick Update Not a Chapter

**Quick update**: hi guys. I just wanted to let you know that I have just bought a Mac. Yay! It is an amazing computer so far and I am very happy with it. I'm currently updating it so that it has all of the files I need to use this computer fulltime instead of my old one. Please bear with me as I transfer my files to this new computer and get used to the new system. The chapters I have promised may be coming a bit late as a result but have no fear, the updates will continue as scheduled. Unfortunately, the **Labyrinth of the Heart **update for last Thursday will have to wait until I have completed this transfer. I thought I had my old files but as it turns out, I never transfered these files to even my old laptop. As some of you may know, my old OLD laptop crashed and lost a lot of my old files. It turns out that I never bothered to download the chapters of Labyrinth of the Heart I had online. Don't worry, this will all get done now. Just a heads up though that this is going on and may delay things.

This message will be deleted within a week or so and regular updates will continue at that point.


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